Acceptance
by CaramelYandere
Summary: Rin Kagamine lives in a poverty-filled world where girls are not accepted by society. Her mother runs away and raises Rin as a boy, Rinto. Eighteen years later, "Rinto" is looking for a bride but unfortunately meets Len Kagamine, a wealthy, optimistic man who is the complete opposite of her.[Full summary in chapter 1]
1. For Who I Am(Rin)

**Well, first of all, I'm sorry for making it soooo short! But that's how I make my introductions so... yeah... I hope you like this new story of mine, as it's been in my head for a while now! Hehe and I also hope that it's actually good enough considering I haven't written in a while now... Hmmm... Well that's all I can say since I'm writing this in class so SHHHH. ;)**

**Full summary: In a poverty-filled, dowry-ruled world where daughters are just not accepted by society, a rebelling, persistent pregnant woman raises her daughter as a boy in the hopes of giving her a better future and to avoid her family's remarks of disowning her. Eighteen years later, Rinto(Rin) Kagamine sets off on a journey to find a woman to marry- despite being a woman herself- for the good fortune that will come with it so she can help her mother live a better life. But many complications arise, and she finds herself accidentally falling for Len Kagamine, a wealthy, optimistic man, who is the complete opposite of her. **

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VOCALOID.**

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I don't understand why I was born. I know that I wasn't _meant _to. Someone like me can't survive in this bitter, greedy world. Why hadn't my mom murdered me the moment I opened my eyes- like every other _sane _mother would have? I wouldn't be suffering as I am now, and she wouldn't be struggling for our survival. I know that it sounds selfish of me, and I know that I'm not making _your _mood any better, but I don't want to suffer anymore. I don't want my mom to keep working nonstop to earn barely enough money to support both of us. I'm tired of having to hear her constant lectures and most of all, I'm tired of living!

I'm so damn _tired_.

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**Acceptance Chapter 1: For Who I Am(Rin)**

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I turned off the water, stepping slowly out of the shower. I lifted my head, averting my gaze to my reflection in the mirror. The girl inside… who is she? She looked like a stranger. Her cerulean eyes shone in the glass, yet it somehow seemed dulled and lifeless. Her blonde strands of hair covered one half of her face, and were set messily atop her tense shoulders. Her skin was pale, as if she hadn't seen the sun before. Her body was fully developed, with long, skinny legs and round, plump breasts. This woman is beautiful.

But I don't know who she is.

That woman inside of the mirror wasn't meant to exist in this world. She was meant to be someone else. Someone completely different. She is hidden from the rest of society, and her true identity is being protected by her alias.

Who is this woman? Is she really me? Or is she the 'me' I would have been…if I had chosen a different path.

Perhaps I am selfish after all. I chose to live life easily, instead of embracing my true self and letting the world know who I really am.

But isn't it too late to turn back? I am no longer Rin Kagamine. I never was. She died a long time ago.

I am… Rinto Kagamine. The only son of Lily Kagamine. I am… a man.

...

...

...

But, before I get into anything too deep or emotional, I'd like to explain the system; the way things work around here. I live in a world that is ruled by what you may call 'dowry'. That is when a wife's family is required to bring money and property to her husband. In other words, a marriage settlement. Unfortunately, in this small village where I live, we are ruled by _poverty_.

Hardly anybody in this town has enough to support any children at all, since they can barely feed themselves. Everyone who lives around here are like family. We share our food, water, clothes, and such. I guess that was the only way to help us live. But I still don't understand why my mother chose here to hide of all places... Aside from that, I guess this is where the matter of greed sets in.

Human beings are very cruel when it comes to having the opportunity for _more and more_. But I guess I understand them, considering that many people don't like living in a place like this. This is not exactly the right place to start raising a family, either. Therefore, remember what I said about dowry?

Imagine this: You have a son, he marries a woman, and all of that woman's property goes to you, including money. Doesn't that sound like a pretty good deal? That's what everyone thinks around here. No, scratch that, around the entire _world_. Nobody sane would be able to pass up an opportunity like that. Which brings me to another topic...

This is what is really sad about living here. Deep in the woods, in the outstretch of this wretched town, lies a graveyard full of the musty stench of dead, rotting corpses. The way each person passed was tragic, and I know the story of each and every one of them. But, what pains my heart the most is that most of the dead bodies buried underneath the soft earth...are newborn children. Baby girls.

'Nobody wants a baby girl. They bring nothing but misfortune.'

That's what everyone says. And I'm so sick and tired of it. I can't see how a mother could murder her child as soon as it opens its eyes. Why must everyone be so greedy? My mother wants me to understand that they are just too poor but I can't see how that can drive them to _kill their own child_.

But, you understand now right? What my future would have been... if I were raised as a girl. This is why my mother chose this path for me, and I shall remain loyal to the end. After all, I've been doing this right for eighteen years, haven't I?

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_Eighteen years ago…_

_"You have to do it Lily! You have no choice!" his deep voice boomed throughout the small room._

_Leon kneeled onto the straw mat, along with Lily; their golden manes of hair shining in the light of the setting sun. Lily stared at him almost angrily, her eyebrows knit together and her deep pools of azure-colored orbs cast a glossy film over it. She bit her lip anxiously, and stared into her husband's eyes. Leon gazed back, casting a dark glare that sent a shiver down Lily's spine._

_"This is my child, Leon!" Lily screamed back in a fit of rage. "It is my decision to get the test!"_

_Leon's face contorted into one filled with pure hatred and anger as he stared at his wife with a disgusted expression. He yelled," How much of an ignorant bitch are you?! If it turns out to be a girl, our family is doomed!"_

_Lily felt tears stream down her cheeks as a new-found familiarity found its way to her mind. She knew exactly what it would feel like… if her daughter was a girl… she would have to go through everything that she herself had been through. Living as a woman in today's society was difficult._

_"I already know that! I am a girl too! I had to give up my family's fortune to you, and I had to be separated from them! How could you EVER understand what a person like me is going through?! Who are you to boss me around and make my decisions for me?! I DON'T want to take the sex determination test. I DON'T care if it is a girl! And if it IS, then I'll figure out how to give her a better life than I EVER had, considering I have a good-for-nothing husband who is FULL OF SHIT!" Lily spat, letting all of her feelings loose._

_Her husband just sat there, shocked. It took him but a moment to compose himself, as he was apparently surprised to hear his wife's true feelings. Still, he stood up angrily, stumbling a bit but catching himself soon enough. Slowly, he raised his hand with a look of insanity as a dark shadow crossed over his face. Lily had lost all courage she had just moments ago, as she shut her eyes tightly and braced herself for the hit._

_It hadn't come for a few seconds though. She heard him fumble around for something, and she could just see him gripping something tightly through her closed eyes._

_It was a wooden bat. He swung it in a swift motion, and a loud cracking sound resonated as he hit his ailing wife's back. She let out a sharp cry of pain, as the stinging sensation coated her skin. A deep, red mark was tattooed onto her back and small pools of blood seeped slowly throughout the wound. The bat's surface was stained with the sticky substance as he swung once more with much more force than the last. Lily cried and screamed as the abuse continued, but never once regretting her decision._

_Her child. Her baby girl. She took the test a long time ago... But she would never be able to burden her husband with her child's gender._

_After all, she wanted to give 'Rin' a better life than she would have if she were born as a 'girl'. That night, Lily decided to run away._

_..._

_..._

_..._

_..._

_..._

_Eight and a half months later..._

_She carried her in her shaky, trembling arms. The pain from just a moment ago seemed to fade away as she gave an exhausted sigh of triumph. Lily stared into the newborn's twinkling eyes, as her eyes started to shine too. For a moment, she caressed her soft, plump skin and traced tiny circles on her rosy cheeks. The young mother sighed happily, as she planted a tender kiss on Rin's forehead. _

_Rin's eyes shut tight as she began to cry. Lily murmured a lullaby, softly and gently._

_She then began to whisper to her child, with tears flowing down her frozen cheeks," I'm so sorry...Rin... but mama's gonna have to make you a boy...After that... you'll have to marry a woman to keep our fortune... Mama's so sorry for being greedy... but it's the only way..."_

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***coughi'msuchafailurei'msosorrycough* -Ahem- Again, I hope you like it and thank you for reading this! I know it probably doesn't sound as good as the summary but that's because it's just the beginning! Anyways, this story reflects what's happening in the real world-India and China- so this can also raise awareness for gendercide and such. Grrr I can't believe that there are actually about 47 million girls less than boys! :( *awkward laugh* Anyhow, please review this! I need to know how to make this better!**


	2. A Warm Hand(Rin)

**Hehehe I am back with another chapter of Acceptance! I dunno, this chapter just came to me when I was having this weird adrenaline rush in the middle of the night. :P**

**Anyways, some of you guys are asking if this is really happening in the world-India and China, to be specific. Actually, this gendercide thing is happening in India, but there is something similar happening in China. Because of the one-child policy in China(whereas you can only have one child, and you are allowed to try for only one other-a son- if you have a daughter born first), there are many abortions and China actually _boasted _that they prevented more than 47 million lives from being born. Also, because there aren't enough women for Chinese men to marry, families kidnap little girls from unsuspecting families to give to their son as a bride. It's hard to actually generalize what is happening, so you can just go on Netflix and watch the documentary 'It's A Girl', like I did(which is how I got the plot).**

***Cough* I hope you enjoy this chappie! **

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I don't remember what it feels like to be a 'woman'. I was never much of a feminist, and things that normal women regularly experience(like 'love') just didn't come to me. And beauty? What was the point? Why should I dress up and try to look my best just to impress no one in particular? I look down on my real sex, and I scorn this body I had been born with. Never mind this already, I am such a hypocrite after all. I _do _care about what other people think. I care about what they think of me as a man, and my woman self is nothing but trash.

Maybe my mind had been influenced by the world I am suffering in; but by the mere fact that I exist, a great burden is there. Why must I let others be overwhelmed with the knowledge that I am a 'woman'? They don't need to know after all, and they wouldn't care anyways. _If_ I were a boy. Life would have been so much easier, for both myself and my mother. She wouldn't have ran away from her family and a drunkard, abusive creature of a husband; she wouldn't have needed to shoulder the burden of a baby girl; and she wouldn't have received cruel pieces of "advice" to kill me, either at my moment of birth or even before that.

After all, wouldn't it be easier to kill someone before they had been born? Especially someone like me.

'Why do I put myself down so much' you might wonder. Or maybe you're wondering that right now. Maybe you hate me right now, because of the way I am. Although I am afraid of being hated, I can tell you hate me too. Just like everyone else who knows my true identity. You hate me. Don't lie.

-Ahem- The answer is simple. Because I hate _myself_. Because I hate the fact that I exist. I hate this body I was born with, and I hate society for not giving people like me equality. I want to be free of this prejudice, this sexism, this common way of thinking. My entire life, I had been raised as a boy. I had never really acknowledged the fact that I was a woman, since I would have to hide it forever.

But I know exactly what's coming next. It's not enough to just _hide _my sex, but my mother wants me to _marry _someone of the same sex.

Generally speaking, that practice is very uncommon... and looked down upon. Woman upon woman, people scorn that idea. Personally, I do too. How could they live with themselves, knowing that society already hates their gender...? And then suddenly they add to that hate, with something else 'society' judges cruelly... That would be too painful for me to handle, while I spend every single waking moment thinking of the kind of thoughts people were having about me at that moment.

Judgments rule this society. Just as this prejudice does. The world was never really a beautiful place, as it is tainted with harsh judgments and resentful personalities. Nothing is beautiful. The world I live in is just a dirty, tattered place that judges a person's status based on their wealth and looks.

It is just cruel. Really, really _cruel._

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**Acceptance Chapter 2: A Warm Hand**

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I breathed a long, deep, exasperated sigh. My back ached, the pain transgressing to every working limb. I felt my shoulders tense uncomfortably, as I attempted to shift my position on the straw mattress. I felt the dulled ends of the straw poke my flesh as I begun to lay on my side, and I let out an angry groan.

Eighteen years of this and I'm still not used to it.

I ran my hand over my stomach, which felt hardened and stiff. My white, deeply-stained tanktop was rolled up to my chest, leaving my abdomen exposed. Not that I cared, anyway.

Have you heard the saying 'Home is where the heart is'? Well, for me, it's true. I don't need to dress or act like a boy at all, only on very rare, special occasions. My mother is half-blind now, as it was one of the perks of continuously fleeing from an abusive husband.

I stared past the arch-of-a-door and into the tiny bathroom, which pretty much consisted of a curtain, a makeshift toilet, a bucket, a pipe, and a mirror. The wallpaper's dull, soulless paint had already been worn down and chipped away over the long, hardworking years.

_I have to run down to the stream for water later, _I thought subconsciously.

Feeling strands of blonde hair tickle the front of my face, I brushed them away and got up from the straw mattress that I shared with my mother. I threw on a pair of rags from the floor, and popped my head through the hole. It ended up being a dirt-stained, oversized tee shirt that reached past my knees. It was filled with holes around the knee and arm areas, and I felt the rough material rub against my aching body.

Every single one of my muscles were tired and overworked from the long, harsh day, and I struggled to stand up straight. My pace was wobbly for a little while, until I managed to get a hold of myself and grab a spare bucket. I unconsciously ran another rough hand through my hair, which I had cut short to the nape of my neck the night before. Holding the bucket on one side of my hip, I walked out of the door into the dimming, pasty orange sunlight.

"Stupid light is blinding my eyes," I mumbled to myself angrily.

Personally, I do NOT like sunlight, although I spend most of my time outside doing various tasks in the hopes of earning a few coins, at the very least.

I continued complaining to myself about the sunlight while walking down the road, and then started blaming and judging my very existence until I caught a woman's eye. She smiled lightly, taking in my appearance. She, herself, actually looked pretty well-clothed. Her long, salmon-colored hair cascaded down her shoulders and to her waist, as it accentuated her crystal-blue, ocean-like eyes. Her jawline was sharp and her thick eyebrows made her always look distraught.

"Hello, Rinto," she greeted warmly with a slight wave of her hand.

I replied with a monotonous tone in my voice." Hello, Luka."

Her small smile dropped gradually as she continued staring at me. I was already used to this. Women somehow liked to stare at me. Maybe because I am a very girly-looking "man"?

"How was your day?" she asked politely, but it seemed as if she was looking down on me.

"Oh, the same." I said, as a force of habit. "Yours?"

"Same." she repeated, and she laughed lightly. "Would you like me to help you with that?"

I kindly refused her offer with a mumble of thanks and a shake of my head as I stepped forward and down the path. This happened every single day, and it was like our own personal routine. I would leave for an errand and she would be outside, as if she were waiting for me. And then we would exchange greetings and she would then offer help, which I refuse every time. But somehow, it was something we grew comfortable with. Her blatant stares unfazed me, and my unenthusiastic behavior never seemed to affect her. We watched each other grow up, through these strange encounters. Although nothing but strangers, we still have a pleasant history.

After all, we both seemed to have our own dark secrets to keep.

I reached the river after ten more minutes of walking, and the sky began to grow darker and darker. Soon enough, the sun was already halfway past the horizon, and the cold, dark air started to consume the skies. I traced the freezing water with the tips of my fingers and dipped my bucket inside. Only about two gallons of water could fit inside the small bucket, but that's all we needed anyways. I started to stand up, feeling a little shaky from the added weight.

Suddenly, my trembling hand slipped in an uncontrollable motion, and I could do nothing at all when my hands involuntarily uncurled and let the bucket go. The bucket splashed into the chilly waters, and it began to float away down the river.

"No!" I screamed, as I knew I would be in big trouble if my mother had found out that I had lost the only one of our buckets.

Without any consideration or further hesitation, I delved into the frosty river. The current had become only a little stronger, but it was enough to plunge me under the murky surface. Air bubbles released out of my mouth as I panicked and waved my arms around in a sore attempt to get to the surface.

There you have it. I do _not _know how to swim. But what else could I do when faced with this situation?

My arms continued to move around as I kicked my legs hurriedly in the water. The icy sensation of the water that surrounded me felt like needles pricking my skin, sending a wave of goosebumps over me. I felt my breath start to leave me as my lungs exploded, desperate for air to breathe and fulfill itself. I kept my eyes open wide, even as I felt it sting in the fast-paced water. The current started to carry my body forward, as it pushed me angrily. I twisted around in the water,as I felt myself slowly slip out of consciousness. A wave of terror was rushing through my insides, creeping over my racing mind. I didn't know what to do. I was scared, and I was panicking.

But scared for what? So I decided to close my eyes.

Only then did I finally notice the desperation of that situation, and the danger. I was dying. I was finally, _finally _dying. Is God finally granting my wish? I let a graceful smile fall over my lips as I hung my head back. Somehow, in all that panic, frustration, and terror, I managed to shut the world out. Even in the rough, strong currents that were leading me down to a soon-to-be waterfall-which would most likely also lead to my death-, I felt peaceful. I felt like I belonged here.

In the water. Dying. Or perhaps, was I already dead? Is that why I felt so peaceful? I let that idea sink into my mind, as I felt the cold once again rush over me.

But at the same moment I thought of that, I felt someone's warm hand tightly envelope my fragile palm, and I let my fingers clutch that person's hand in an almost gentle motion. The warmth of that moment was happy enough to make me smile. Maybe, just maybe, I wasn't dead after all.

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**I'm not sure if that ending was good or bad but mehh ;/ I'm actually trying to get a lot of Rin's thoughts into this story because I think that her thinking is really important, as it portrays how corrupted society is and how people can have ugly personalities and such. I'm not actually sure if her character is that likeable, but I'll work on it. Anyhow, review replies! :)**

**MizuneMinamiki: Thanks for the review Mizune! :D Hahaha it did the same to me too when I heard that about the baby girls, since there is this village in India where there actually is such a graveyard(a family graveyard). And dayumm right! Leon pissed me off when I was writing that scene! :P And it's alright though, you were the first reviewer, and this review made me smile! XDD**

**Jessi-chan9867: JESSIIIIIII! IT'S BEEN A WHILE! Blahhh I missed you too, and thanks for both the review and that comment about my awesomeness. ;P And damn straight! Where the hell _do _they expect baby boys to come out from?! It's not like mpreg actually exists and plus, the whole guy population won't just turn out to be gay and magically screw logic over and make babies. *Cough* Ahaha... I hate domestic violence too, but it's a common thing for guys in India. Grrr. Hahaha that robot babies part made me laugh, and suddenly that was all I could think about at school the other day. xDDD It kinda reminded me of Kaito in KMD. :D Ehehe it actually is happening, and it makes me sad to know that a lot of people are unaware of it. And so... this story was born! :DDDDD**

**pizza frustration: Thanks for reviewing! :D On a completely unrelated note, I like that penname of yours! It makes me crave pizzas now. xD Anyways, I don't plan on ditching this, so don't worry! :) I agree with you. All I can see is a bunch of cliched romances and original stories are very rare to find. :/ Ooh, I need to go FF hunting, too... xD *cough* Anyhow, thanks again for reviewing and I am grateful that you like my writing style and plot!**

**Guest(Kurone Ryu): Thank you for reviewing! I really appreciate it! :) Hahaha I'm glad that you like my plot, and yes, this is really happening(well, in India, but China has similar circumstances). I don't think I'd ever be able to understand the rules, but I guess greed plays along with that factor. After all, when you get a daughter, you win a beautiful child, but when she marries, you lose all your money. And getting a boy means you get a son(which is favored by society) _and _you get all his wife's money and property. That kind of thing is a great opportunity for people in poverty. Anyways...I won't ditch this and thanks again for reviewing! xDDD**

**Please leave time for a review~ I hope you guys like the story thus far! **


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